


Cruore

by AnaliseGrey



Series: Liminal Set [4]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Blood, Character Development, Character Study, Gen, Personal Growth, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:40:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22363504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaliseGrey/pseuds/AnaliseGrey
Summary: When Beau is 16, her father pays to have her abducted by the Cobalt Soul.
Series: Liminal Set [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603309
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	Cruore

**Author's Note:**

> _Cruore_ \- it literally means “flowing blood”

When Beau is 16, her father pays to have her abducted by the Cobalt Soul.

She’s angry, and affronted, and maybe even a little hurt, and she lets all that out in a flood as the people in blue robes try to catch hold of her. She fights like a wild cat, twisting and spitting mad, lashing out anyone who comes close enough.

In the end it takes four of them to subdue her, and she can at least take satisfaction in the fact that more than a few of them are bleeding by the time they get her into the carriage on the way to Zadash.

At 19, she’s still in Zadash. The classes are alright for the most part, though she chafes against the instructions to, ‘ _Sit in the chair_ **_properly_ ** _, Beauregard._ ’, and the hours spent taking notes and pouring over dusty books. Where she thrives, what she _really_ enjoys, she finds, are the periods of physical training. It’s difficult, and she actually hates the first few weeks, but once her body adjusts, she finds she really likes it. There’s something satisfying about the feel of her knuckles making a solid hit on something (or some _one_ ), the full-body aches she gets after a really good workout. She knows her instructors don’t feel the same as she does in some aspects- it’s not a proper sparring session unless she draws blood in her opinion, whereas they keep trying to drill her on control, on precision. Brute force has gotten her this far, and she doesn’t see why precision is necessary. It’s a constant point of contention between her and her instructors. She gets the result they want in the end, and if she does it her own way rather than theirs, then so much the better.

Beau is 25 when Archivist Zeenoth tracks her down in Trostenwald. She’s not thrilled, is prepared to do what she has to to avoid returning to Zadash, and is surprised when Expositor Dairon appears. She’s been ambivalent on the topic of returning for training, but finds herself drawn in by what Dairon offers- the opportunity to root out corruption, to use her training for something more than just sitting in a dusty library or fighting theoretical opponents in sparring. She spends the night learning, ends up beat to shit and bleeding by the end, but finds she hasn’t been this stoked about training in ages. Maybe there’s something to this whole monk thing after all.

Over the next few months she learns a lot, her skills progressing faster than she could have imagined. She’s part of a group now, she has friends ( _family_ , a part of her mind whispers at her, though she tries to ignore it long as she can), and they get into all kinds of trouble. She ends up covered in blood more times than she can count, sometimes her own, sometimes someone else’s, and she feels _alive_ in a way she never used to, like she’s _doing_ something, _accomplishing_ something, maybe even something important, which isn’t something she’d have considered possible even a year ago.

She learns, she adapts, she grows.

She learns the power of waiting, of patience.

It still grates on her, but slowly she begins to find that she can fight with words instead of just fists and feet. That not all battles draw blood, and it’s possible to win while standing still, if you’re good enough, quick enough, clever enough.

She thinks it might be one of the most important lessons she’s learned so far.

Expositor Lionett is 26 when she stands in Castle Ungebroch and speaks to King Dwendal and his advisers. She’s terrified, feels like the words fly out of her mouth so fast, and she’s scrambling to keep up. At the end of the day, due in part to her words, they’re not only free to go, but have been charged with taking an offer of peace talks to the Dynasty. She doesn’t trust the Empire’s intent, knows there’s something they’re missing, but it’s a start.

The Nein close ranks around Caleb, and her mind races forward, thinking of what they’ll need to do, planning about next steps.

She also really, **_really_ **wants to punch Trent Ikithon in the face.

Some fights can be fought with words, but she thinks she wouldn’t mind drawing some blood from that fucker.

Maybe a _lot_ of blood.

But that’s a goal for another day.


End file.
